– 8 million Americans have an eating disorder, but only 1 in 10 people with eating disorders receive treatment.
-An estimated 10 – 15% of people with anorexia or bulimia are males
-Anorexia is the 3rd most common chronic illness among adolescents in the US
-95% of those who have eating disorders in the US are between the ages of 12 and 25
-50% of girls between the ages of 11 and 13 in the US see themselves as overweight
-Eating disorders are one of the most common psychological problems facing young women in Japan.
http://www.state.sc.us/dmh/anorexia/statistics.htm
-In developed societies, anorexia nervosa is the third most common chronic illness for young females. (obesity & asthma are 1 & 2) It is ten times more common than insulin dependent diabetes.
-Dieting is a $33 billion industry in the US, and 100 million-dollar industry in New Zealand.
-The failure rate for diets is 95-98%, with up to 90% of dieters gaining weight.
-Eating disorders are now estimated to afflict one in 100 young Japanese women, almost the same incidence as in the United States
Expository research 